Talking About Organizations Podcast cover image

Talking About Organizations Podcast

Latest episodes

undefined
Mar 18, 2025 • 43min

123: Markets as Politics -- Neil Fligstein (Part 2)

This is Part 2 on our discussion of Fligstein’s 1996 article, “Markets as politics: A political-cultural approach to market institutions." Here we work our way through the 16 propositions” (or provocations as we would refer to them)and test them out from a contemporary view. Do they make sense in retrospect? Do they continue to lend themselves toward a useful research agenda? What alternative or additional propositions might we come up with?
undefined
Mar 11, 2025 • 43min

123: Markets as Politics -- Neil Fligstein (Part 1)

Fligstein’s 1996 article, “Markets as politics: A political-cultural approach to market institutions,” was an important contribution to the field of economic sociology, countering the dominant neoclassical view of economics that failed to explain market behaviors in practice. He argued for an alternative paradigm – a “political-cultural” model that suggested that the formation of markets was part of “state building” and subjected to various social institutions that belonged to the state such as property rights and rules of exchange. A very provocative piece that bridges institution theory with theories of social action.
undefined
Mar 11, 2025 • 4min

123: Markets as Politics -- Neil Fligstein (Summary of Episode)

We will cover the economic sociology of Neil Fligstein, who countered the dominant 1990s-era neoclassical view of economics that failed to explain well various market behaviors being observed at the time. He argued for an alternative paradigm – a “political-cultural” model that suggested that the formation of markets was part of “state building” and subjected to various social institutions that belonged to the state.
undefined
Feb 18, 2025 • 14min

122: Cultivation and Curation of Professional Knowledge (Part 2)

A new Resource Center for scholars in organizational studies is unveiled, streamlining access to essential research methods and theories. The discussion dives into blending classical and modern organizational theories to confront challenges like agility and digitization. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility take the spotlight, emphasizing the importance of work-life balance. Listeners are encouraged to engage and contribute to this growing knowledge hub.
undefined
5 snips
Feb 11, 2025 • 43min

122: Cultivation and Curation of Professional Knowledge (Part 1)

The hosts celebrate their 10th anniversary by diving into the evolution of organizational knowledge in a digital age. They tackle the challenges of navigating and curating academic content, emphasizing the importance of classic works to counter recency bias. Artificial intelligence's role in knowledge consumption is explored, shedding light on its limitations in academia. The discussion also focuses on balancing foundational knowledge with modern sources, using a unique metaphor to illustrate effective organization and encourage curiosity.
undefined
Jan 28, 2025 • 38min

121: Rhetoric vs. Reality -- Mark Zbaracki (Part 2)

In Part 2 on Zbaracki’s “The rhetoric and reality of Total Quality Management,” we look at contemporary examples of rhetoric-reality gaps. Not being confined to “business fads,” there are many other cases where threatened legitimacy of an organization can lead it to acting defensively and avoid public acknowledgement of significant problems. What can or should managers do to avoid getting caught in a “lie” (or a really robust “fish story”)?
undefined
Jan 21, 2025 • 42min

121: Rhetoric vs. Reality -- Mark Zbaracki (Part 1)

This month we explore a renowned multiple-case study commonly assigned as foundational readings in organization studies programs. Mark Zbaracki’s “The rhetoric and reality of Total Quality Management” chronicled the development and introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM) into the corporate environment, only to find that in many cases its implementation did not align with the promises made by leaders about process improvements nor did firms fully exercise all the practices and activities that TQM required. The question that Zbaracki posed was more than to what extent did this rhetoric-reality unfold, but why?
undefined
Jan 21, 2025 • 4min

121: Rhetoric vs. Reality -- Mark Zbaracki (Summary of Episode)

Coming soon! You might not have heard of Total Quality Management (TQM) but you no doubt have encountered pre-packaged performance improvement programs like it. What happens when the promises and rhetoric surrounding such a program exceed the realities of its implementation? Such is the subject of Mark Zbaracki’s “The rhetoric and reality of Total Quality Management” that explored its implementation in several different sites, finding that oftentimes the pressures to maintain organizational legitimacy overtake all other considerations.
undefined
Dec 11, 2024 • 47min

120: Institutional Isomorphism -- DiMaggio & Powell (Part 2)

In Part 2 on DiMaggio & Powell’s “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizations,” we revisit the revisitation. 40 years following the article finds the world in the midst of the information age, while the article was still written in industrial times. Do the ideas still hold up, and might we consider isomorphism as more or less prevalent?
undefined
Dec 3, 2024 • 47min

120: Institutional Isomorphism -- DiMaggio & Powell (Part 1)

In this episode, we discuss “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizations,” a ground breaking article by sociologists Paul DiMaggio and Walter Powell in 1983. The authors argued that the traditional views of why organizations tended to assimilate one another was not explained by the pursuit of rationality or efficiency. Rather, they did so in response to many other stimuli such as regulatory pressures, professional norms, and the need to reduce uncertainty. But why “the iron cage revisited”? The article was inspired by Weber’s use of the metaphor to describe how bureaucratization was destined to enslave humanity. That it did not (at least not to the extent anticipated) spurred the question of why else do organizations model themselves after others in their fields.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode